an issue that has been largely quiet for the last four years. joining us now for a joining us now for a perspective on the situation is he's the author of "leading from behind: the reluctant president and the advisors who decide for him". he comes to us from washington. richard, welcome inside "the war room." >> thank you. >> michael: i want to -- i want to ask you about the hostage situation. it's focused american attention on an issue that -- you know, that frankly hasn't had its focus for a while. what can you tell us about, you know, what is happening there, and how it affects america? >> well one of the things that this shows is that ignorance is dangerous. the united states ignored afghanistan in the 1990s and we saw what came out of that. we have been ignoring this area of africa for a long time even though morocco has been saying for many years that radical islamic groups have been growing for a while. perhaps the most prominent of them this one. he is someone who emerges in 2002, and takes 18 germans and french backpackers hostage. he g